About 30 km along the coast to the west of Split is the gorgeous and tiny medieval walled town of Trogir. It is situated on a small island that lies in the channel separating the Croatian mainland from the larger island of Ciovo. (There should be a hacek over the ‘C’ but most web browsers won’t cope if I put one in!) There is a road bridge linking Trogir to the mainland and another one linking Trogir with Ciovo.
Trogir is littered with Romanesque and Renaissance architecture, the result of many years of Venetian rule. Chief amongst its many glories is the Cathedral of St. Lovro with another exceedingly tall bell tower. The Romanesque portal dating from 1240 features some amazing intricate carving as can be seen in the photograph of the Tympanum below.
Wandering around the streets and alleyways of the old town, there are architectural delights to see at every turn. Below are two examples – the Town Hall and another Church whose dedication I was unable to ascertain.
On the evening of Friday 23rd October, we arrived in Split on the central Dalmatian coast of Croatia. This followed a day of driving through some of the heaviest rain I’ve experienced in a very long time. Our ferry crossing took place with only a few spots of rain falling. But as we passed through Herceg Novi and headed towards the Montenegro – Croatia border, it started raining with a vengeance. As a result, we drove past the wonderful historic Croatian city of Dubrovnik, only just able to make it out in the near distance through the heavy rain and mist.
Our journey through the driving rain along the Adriatic coast was also notable for taking us into the ninth different country of our trip. For 10 km, the main coastal highway passes into Bosnia-Herzegovina and through the town of Neum before passing back out into Croatia again. Finally, in the late afternoon as we approached Split, the constant rain started to ease, very much in line with the BBC online weather forecast we had looked at the previous evening.
Split is the second-largest city in Croatia after the capital Zagreb. It is also an important port and ferry port. However, probably its greatest claim to fame is being the location of one of the most imposing Roman ruins still in existence – the Emperor Diocletian’s Palace. But the palace is not a museum. Instead, it is the living heart of the city, consisting of a whole network of interconnected alleyways and squares containing shops, restaurants and bars, as well as the Cathedral of St. Domnius with its wonderful Romanesque bell tower. The B&B Kašel 1700, where we stayed for two nights, also lies within the palace, just inside the Southern Gate.
On my 1975 coach trip, I had stopped off in Split for no more than half an hour which had therefore only allowed me a very cursory glance at this amazing Roman ruin. This time, because of staying for two nights, we had the whole of Saturday 24th October to explore and take in the atmosphere of the vibrant historic city centre. And after all the rain of the two previous days, our full day in Split was spent once more enjoying fine and sunny weather.
From my brief April 1975 visit, I have precisely two pictures. However, by sheer coincidence, I took pictures of the same ancient buildings from similar positions during my October 2009 visit. As with the previous examples that I have already posted from Cappadocia and Montenegro, it is fascinating to see how little has changed in nearly 35 years.
I hope that the map above will help to indicate the considerable indentation the Bay of Kotor makes to the coast of Montenegro as well as helping readers locate places mentioned in my previous post. What it also shows is the problem facing anyone wanting to drive along the coast road in a relatively straight line. – You can’t!!!
Fortunately, between Lepetane, (5 km northwest of Tivat) and Kamenari, (about 2km east of Bijela), there is a regular car ferry service across the narrowest point of the entrance channel leading into the Bay of Kotor. I gather there is a plan, at some future date, to build a bridge here. In the mean time a number of car ferries ply their way back and forth across the channel. Unless you use the ferry service, you are left with a scenic but very long and windy drive all around the bay!
With the BBC internet weather forecast warning of two further days of wind and rain if we were to remain staying around the Bay of Kotor, on the morning of Friday 23rd October, we reluctantly decided to set off and drive much further north in order to find better weather for the last few days of our holiday. So we drove from our hotel at Prcanj, along the narrow coastal road that leads to the ferry terminal at Lepetane.
When travelling along the Adriatic coast road in April 1975, the coach party I travelled with also used this same ferry crossing. Above is an interesting comparison of how car ferry transport has changed in 35 years!
I should really have written ‘vehicular ferry transport’ for in 1975 it was mainly trucks and coaches with relatively few private cars. Now in 2009, trucks and coaches use a larger ferry specifically designated for them, seen on the left in this picture, whilst cars use the slightly smaller vessels like the one on the right.
What have changed very little in 35 years are the buildings around the ferry terminal at Kamenari. The picture below looks across to the same buildings that appear between the two ferries in the picture above.
In the south-western corner of Montenegro, not far from the border with Croatia, lies the fascinating Bay of Kotor. It is often described as the most southerly fjord in Europe which the geographer in me immediately wants to dispute! Fjords are the result of glaciation whereas the Bay of Kotor is a submerged river valley. However, with the whole of the sea inlet surrounded by steep-sided mountains it is very similar in appearance to a fjord.
The historic walled town of Kotor lies at the southern extremity of the bay. As can be seen in my photograph
on the left, it is increasingly visited by large cruise ships which seem to tower over everything except the surrounding mountains. The twin towers of Kotor Cathedral on the right look miniscule compared to the multiple decks of the cruise ship.
Having reached Kotor via a road tunnel from the coast road under the surrounding mountains, we headed along the shore of the bay to the village of Prcanj, about 3 km from Kotor itself. Here we found the very pleasant and reasonably priced Hotel Bokeljski Dvori where we stayed for the next two nights. Their rate for bed and breakfast was half that of Hotel Kato in Podgorica and, in answer to our enquiry, they assured that coffee was included in the price of breakfast. We did get a rather puzzled look from the lady at the reception desk when we asked about coffee being included, until we explained about our experience the previous night in Podgorica!
The next morning, we returned to Kotor, managed to find a space to park the car on the harbour side, and set out on foot to explore the walled town. Located in a small square in the centre of the old town is St. Tryphon’s Cathedral. As can be seen from the dates on the twin bell towers, the Cathedral has just celebrated 1,200 years of Christian worship. There is very little left of the original 9th century building – most of the current building dates from the 12th century. The twin bell towers are more recent being baroque in style and date from the re-building of the west front of the Cathedral following earthquake damage in 1667.
The Cathedral belongs to the Roman Catholic Church, this corner of Montenegro having a significant Catholic population as well as many Orthodox Christians. The building itself had been beautifully restored for the 1,200th anniversary celebrations earlier in the year. Within the Cathedral there was a photographic display of the various celebratory events that had taken place.
As we wandered around exploring other parts of the historic walled town, we regularly had to find shelter from increasingly heavy rain showers. We did manage to eat lunch outside but only because of the shelter provided by a large awning over the restaurant table.
After lunch, we set out in the car to explore further around the shores of the Bay of Kotor. We drove to the village of Perast which overlooks the narrow entrance channel that leads from the Adriatic Sea into the bay. The main Church of St. Nicholas has an amazingly tall bell tower with architecture that is very Venetian in style, reflecting the past history of the area. In the square in front of the Church, a French film crew were trying to film an outdoor sequence but were struggling with the increasingly inclement weather.
Much as I would have loved to explore further along around the shore of the bay, we reluctantly decided that the wet and stormy weather precluded us from doing so. We therefore retraced our steps and returned to the shelter and warmth of our hotel in Prcanj.
Overnight, the weather became extremely stormy with very strong winds and heavy rain, as a large depression made its way across the Adriatic Sea from Italy, into the Balkans.
As I mentioned in my previous post, our journey from southern Serbia into Montenegro took me along the same route I had traversed by coach when travelling overland from Kathmandu to London during a period of two and a half months in the Spring of 1975. Leaving Podgorica, we continued on that same route, passing Lake Skadar and then proceeding steeply around numerous hairpin bends to cross the Rumija mountain range before being rewarded with our first view of the Adriatic Sea. A similar steep decent around many more hairpin bends, brought us to the coastal resort of Petrovac.
I still remember the thrill of seeing the Adriatic for the first time in my life in 1975 and, as you can see from these two photos, the view is still pretty spectacular.
About 5 km north from Petrovac along the coastal highway, is probably the most iconic site in Montenegro if not the whole of Adriatic coast of the former Yugoslavia. This is the tiny island of Sveti Stefan, connected to the mainland by an isthmus. Sometime in the 1950s, this former fishing community was turned into a luxury hotel which is what it was when I passed by in 1975. When we tried to venture on to the island in October 2009, access was forbidden as the whole complex was undergoing renovation work so it can re-open for the 2010 season. If you look closely at the 2009 photo, you can see the workmen’s yellow vehicles parked by the entrance and a green crane to the left of them.
